Firehole Falls is a 40 foot waterfall amidst 800-foot thick lava flows forming the canyon walls.
FIREHOLE SWIMMING AREA
Lots of people headed down the steps to the swimming area - too many people! And "firehole" is misleading as the area is NOT a hot springs!
Can you spot the swimmers on the rocks?
Firehole River further upstream.
FOUNTAIN FLAT DRIVE
Should have been called "BUFFALO FLAT DRIVE" the first day we drove through the area! It was a perfect day for buffalo watching. These two young bulls acted just like a couple of teenage boys - they jostled each other for the best grass as they walked along!
Here they are still pushing to be first! They kept it up all the way to the road, literally looked both ways, crossed the road, and then resumed their "fighting" when they got to the other side!
So many buffalo...
Everywhere we looked we could see more bison.
This bull continued on across the river.
Mother and calf.
Firehole River
Another cow and calf.
Big bull resting in a buffalo wallow.
A buffalo wallow is a natural topographical depression in the flat prairie that holds water or run-off.
I had never seen so many buffalo at one time; we returned the next day and not a bison in sight!
We BRAKE for BUFFALO!
FIREHOLE LAKE DRIVE
Another trip to check out White Dome - no activity.
LOWER GEYSER BASIN
Near Celestine Pool
Lodgepole pines
The boardwalk loop, Fountain Paint Pot Trail, has many geothermal features including hot pools, erupting geysers, fumaroles, and mudpots. Notice the geysers in the distance.
Clepsydra Geyser nearly continuously erupts to 45 feet. Clepsydra derived from the Greek word for water clock. Before the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake it erupted every 3 minutes - like clockwork.
MUDPOTS
Fountain Paint Pot
MIDWAY GEYSER BASIN
Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest natural hot springs in the United States at about 360 feet in diameter and third largest in the world.
Overflow area
Run-off area on the backside of spring.
UPPER GEYSER BASIN
Jewel geyser is named for the beads of pearly sinter (formed from silica) around the geyser's vent as seen in this picture.
Rusty coral? Actually it's bacteria, orange colored from the carotenoids that protect the bacteria from the harsh light of Yellowstone's summer sun.
POOL at FAIRY FALLS
BISCUIT BASIN
See the hot springs bubbling up at the rivers' edge?
We crossed the Continental Divide three different times inside the park with elevations of 8262 feet at Craig Pass, 8391 feet, and at 7988 feet.
Impressive mule deer is almost invisible in the tall grass.
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